Various types of electronic devices require an array of electronic cells. For example, plasma displays require a two-dimensional array of display cells. The individual display cells of a plasma display each include a number of electronic components which cooperate to provide an individually addressable pixel. In a plasma cell, a combination of electrodes excites a gas into a plasma state where the plasma radiates at ultraviolet wavelengths. The ultraviolet emissions are converted by a phosphor into visible light, for example, using phosphors which emit red, green, or blue light. Components of a plasma cell can include electrodes, dielectric regions, gas enclosures, and phosphors. Plasma displays are often fabricated on a pair of flat substrates. A first, rear substrate is processed to create geometric features of the array of display cells, for example, to define individual plasma regions for each cell. The geometric features can be formed by sand blasting or etching. Various electronic components are formed on the first substrate, such as electrodes and dielectrics using lithographic and other techniques. A second, front substrate is typically bonded to the first substrate to create chambers which can enclose a gas in which a plasma can be formed. Components, such as electrodes and phosphors may also be disposed on the second substrate. Unfortunately, processing large substrates in this manner has proven difficult and expensive. Although advancements in the manufacturability and cost of large plasma displays using flat substrate construction have been achieved, these displays are still difficult to make. Furthermore, there is a desire to manufacture very large displays, and existing techniques do not scale up well to larger sizes.
An alternate approach to manufacturing plasma displays has been to use fiber technology. Long tubes can be drawn from glass and filled with gas. Electrodes can be deposited on the outside or threaded inside the tubes. Unfortunately, manufacturing displays using this approach has also proven difficult. For example, using this construction approach, the geometric configuration of the display cell is relatively limited. Consequently, optimizing the placement and arrangement of display cell components is difficult to achieve. For example, it is difficult to ensure that primary radiation emitted by the plasma discharge is efficiently coupled into the secondary emission region, since most of the components are placed on the outside of the tube. Since one of the electrodes is generally outside the tube, it is difficult to find a placement which provides good coupling to the primary emitting region. Additionally, non-uniformity in tube dimensions and relative position of electrodes and tubes can result in large variation in operational parameters such as drive voltage and firing voltage from tube to tube. Tubular displays have thus been somewhat limited in various performance aspects in comparison to substrate based displays.
More generally, techniques for fabrication of arrays of electronic components are generally limited. Many electronic devices are fabricated using semiconductor processing techniques on planar crystalline wafers. These wafers are fragile and require special packaging and handling of the completed devices. Semiconductor processing techniques do not scale well to large dimensions, for example as desired for plasma displays.